Local Blogs

New Japanese restaurant to replace Akasaka in Menlo Park

Uploaded: Jun 21, 2017

Longtime Menlo Park sushi restaurant Akasaka has been sold to new owners, who plan to open another traditional Japanese restaurant in its place next week.

Jeffrey Son, the new owner, said he and his family took over the 925 El Camino Real space in early June. Jeffrey said he's not sure why the Akasaka owner decided to close but that "he did mention that he wanted to rest."

Octopus is set to open soon in Menlo Park. Photo by Elena Kadvany.

Jeffrey has worked in restaurants as a server since he was 14 years old and his father, who goes by Son, is a longtime chef. The family lives in Milpitas but has operated Japanese restaurants in Santa Cruz and Korea, where they lived when Jeffrey was young, he said.

Their new restaurant, Octopus, will serve traditional Japanese fare like sushi, rolls and tataki. All sauces will be homemade by Son, Jeffrey said.

Octopus will be open weekdays for lunch and dinner and on Saturday and Sunday, dinner from 4-9 p.m. Jeffrey said they hope to be open next week.

Octopus is one of several new Japanese restaurants coming to Menlo Park, including Kyosho Japanese Restaurant (in the former Tokyo Subway space) and 32 Fahrenheit Japanese Bistro (in the former Quiznos space).